What is the theme of follower by Seamus Heaney?
“Follower” tracks the way that the relationship between parents and their children changes over time. The speaker begins the poem with deep admiration and respect for his father, contrasting his father’s exceptional farming skills with his own stumbling ineptitude as he follows behind.
What is the symbolism of Ploughing in follower?
The metaphor of following in a father’s footsteps, the father is sturdy while the son falters. There are many nautical images ‘his shoulders globed like a full sail strung’ suggesting grace and ‘mapping the furrow’ suggests ploughing is like navigating a ship: skilful and disciplined.
What do the half rhymes in the poem follower represent?
The perfect rhymes symbolise his father and the slant rhymes represent the speaker. Quatrains The poem is organised into quatrains of four lines each.
Why did Heaney write follower?
“Follower” is about the loss of tradition. In fact, the main theme of Heaney’s poetic career is the sense of loss that accompanies moving away from tradition. His poems often focus on the details of his family life in his childhood before his personal break with tradition.
What is the message of the poem follower?
Follower is a poem that focuses on the relationship between father and son, shifting in perspective from past to present, giving the reader an insight into a son’s reaction to the passing of time and that same father grown old.
What is the tone of follower by Seamus Heaney?
This poem has a serious tone and a matter of fact approach to a memory of a father working the land. There is a sense of respect and dignity as the child watches the man, perhaps learning from him. Humility also comes through.
What is a polished sod?
He also mentions that sometimes he falls on the “polished sod”—not very helpful, young man. Here’s hoping his dad is an understanding guy. (The description of “polished” here suggests that the dirt is smooth and shiny where it’s been cut by the plow.)
What is the central theme of the poem this is a photograph of me?
The poem comes across as a morbid description of a photograph taken of a dead woman hidden underneath the lake she drowned in. Knowing that Margaret Atwood is a renowned feminist writer, leads me to believe that the poem’s symbolically hidden main theme is the oppression of women in a male-dominated society.
What is the tone of the poem digging by Seamus Heaney?
The tone is serious and full of reflection. The speaker is looking back through the family history, noting how hard his father and his grandfather have worked the land. He is in awe of their achievements yet resigned to the fact that he, as creator of the poem, is destined not to follow them and their digging.
Why are sods described as polished?
What is the theme of the poem follower by Seamus Heaney?
Like Heaney, the speaker in “Follower” is a farmer’s son who finds beauty and value in traditional farming practices but struggles to take them up himself. The poem touches on themes that appear throughout Heaney’s work, such as family dynamics, agricultural work, and Irish identity.
How was Seamus Heaney influenced by the example of his father?
He did not know exactly how his life would be influenced by the example of his father until he was old enough to look back on his life. ‘Follower’ by Seamus Heaney is a retrospective piece that describes how the poet used to go plowing with his father in his childhood days.
How does Seamus Heaney use alliteration in the poem?
In the second, third, and fourth lines Heaney uses the technique of alliteration, in this case, of the S sound. The words, “sail,” “strung,” “shafts,” “strained,” and “shoulders,” come in quick succession giving a flow to these three lines. This technique is used to mirror the movement of the plow itself as it slides through the ground.
How many stanzas are in Seamus Heaney’s poem The Great Gatsby?
Heaney’s poem is a six stanza piece, made up of quatrains, or four-line stanzas. Each line is approximately the same length and contains both slanting and perfect end word rhymes.